Had Enough
by DixieStar
Summary: In the midst of their rise to stardom Kendall, Logan, and James make some new and very special friends. These friends turn the boys worlds upside down. But will the boys be able to protect these friends from harm? And when terrifying people from their past show back up, will the boys be able to keep their cool? Or will they decide that they've had enough. Neko!centric AU
1. Chapter 1

**_Here's my second story! I'm really excited to post this. _**

**_I understand the idea is a little bit out there and will completely understand if there are people who chose not to continue reading after this chapter. Please though, keep any hurtful comments to yourself. I realize I am not the worlds greatest author and negative comments will be removed. _**

**_I also apologize because this went without a beta, but i have spell checked it several times so i apologize for any a grammar errors.. _**

**_Enjoy lovelies!_**

**_Love,  
DixieStar_**

Kendall felt like the day was going to be different. He'd had a nauseous feeling for the past week. So this morning, when he woke up without one, he'd begun to fear for the worst. His body always had a way of letting him know when something was up... it always has.

He almost likes to think of it as his 'superpower'. Or at least that's what he would call it when he was younger. As he's grown up though, it's become more of a curse to him rather than a superpower.

The week before Logan was beat up by those thugs back in Minnesota he'd been anxious and under the weather every day until it had happened. Then there was that day that Katie has fallen off of the monkey bars and broken her arm. He had been sick to his stomach all day even though he'd been on a field trip at least 50 miles away from her! Plus there was that week he'd had a headache every morning and the morning he woke up without one James had been checked into the wall at their hockey game, which resulted in him seriously spraining his ankle.

So now, his stomach is in knots again because he's worried about what bad thing could be waiting to happen to him, or his friends, or his family.

"Kendall. You here man?" Logan calls walking into their shared apartment with James right on his tail.

"I'm over here." Kendall replied flatly from his place face down on the couch. Their favorite piece of furniture was this orange couch, yet it almost looked out of place in their apartment. That was probably due to the fact that James had worked so hard to make everything else in the apartment so up to date and stylish. Kendall and Logan could deal with that though, he's their best friend. He'd just better not touch their couch.

Logan and James carefully entered the living room, exchanging worried glances when they found Kendall face down on their beloved sofa with a pillow lying across the back of his head.

"What's up man? Jo got ya down again?" James asked crossing the living room and sitting by Kendall's feet. He picked them up and laid them across his lap when he was adjusted on the couch. Jo had a habit of doing this. When they were teenagers she had moved away and it left him in a terrible depression. Then she came back only to do it again. She had just moved back the week before and Kendall hadn't talked to her yet, especially since after her big move back she'd decided to date Jett. So no Kendall hasn't even gone to talk to her yet, not trusting himself to keep composure, but that wasn't the problem at the moment.

"No, it's not that." Kendall groaned out, not thankful in the slightest that James had to bring that up.

Logan moved across the room to sit next to Kendall's head. He removed the pillow from Kendall's head and made the blonde turn over so they could see his face; he set the pillow in his lap and let Kendall drop his head there when he had readjusted himself.

The boys had always been this close, even when they were back in Minnesota growing up. It was just something they'd always done. The one that was upset in-between the other two. To some, three 19 year-olds lying across each other may looked weird, but it was the brother-like bond they shared.

Logan had a skeptical look on face when Kendall finally looked up to examine the smart boy.

"If it's not Jo-ho then what's eatin ya man?" Logan began running his fingers through Kendall's hair that he had recently let grow out a little. This had always been Logan's role in the group, the 'mother hen' if you will. But that's only because he cares so much for both of his friends.

Kendall gulped. In all seriousness Jo was never really a problem. Well maybe she had been the first time, but after Kendall began to find himself…. Well, she was just hiding a well-kept secret from his 'almost brothers'. Really that's the only thing he's ever kept from them, but he's just never found the right time to tell them.

"Come on brother, what's up? Anything we can do for you?" Logan begged. James nodded his head down by Kendall's feet. Leader or not they would still do anything they could to make him happy.

Kendall sighed. He loved the fact that they were so willing to step in and help him, but really, he felt dumb when this happened. Now that he's grown up enough to know it's not a 'superpower', he doesn't like letting them know when he's all 'up in a fritz' as his mother would say. He let a long sigh escape him and he sat up. Readjusting again so he was just sitting in-between his friends. He knew that they would never let this go, so he opted for the truth, no matter how dumb it sounded.

"I'm just having one of those weeks. You know how I always get really anxious before something bad or odd happens?" He asked.

"You mean your freaky sixth sense thing?" James questioned with a smirk while scooting closer to him.

"Yeah, that…." Kendall trailed off; leave it to James to make it out like it was still a good thing. "I've been nauseous every morning this last week and this morning I woke up and I wasn't but now that I've been worrying about what's going to happen I've made myself nauseous again." He sighed and let his head drop back.

From next to him he heard Logan sigh and begin rubbing a comforting circle on shoulder. Just another of the smart boys 'mother hen' quirks.

"That doesn't mean something's definitely going to happen…. You could be wrong this time…." But even with his scientific brain, from the tone of his voice, you could tell that Logan seriously doubted this. By the expression on James' face, it was evident he did too. They sat there quietly for a moment, until they heard a commotion outside.

"Get out of here you stupid animal!" They heard what sounded the old man from the bakery around the corner yell.

They got to the window just in time to see what looked what looked like a girl around their age sprinting out of the shop with a bag in her hand and what looked like cat ears on her head. No, it couldn't be, they hadn't seen even one neko since they'd left Minnesota.

Sharing a look with Logan and James, they made their way down the back staircase and to the alley they had seen her take off into.

James was the first one to reach the alley and was slashed across the arm by the startled neko. It wasn't a big scratch, but it was long enough and deep enough to get the point across.

"OW! Mother of….." But James couldn't finish his expletive before a sharp growl ripped its way from the girl's throat. Kendall and Logan stood at his sides. Before any other words could be said Kendall put his hands up, assuming his leader position and taking a couple steps forward cautiously.

"We're not here to hurt you, "he started calmly, "We saw what happened and we just want to help."

She straightened her back a little bit, and looked into the bag to what looked like moldy or almost moldy bread that she had tried to grab. She held an indignant look as she stared at the three of them, but after a few minutes sighed and dropped the bag. It looked like she was struggling with it, but she managed to get her next sentence out.

"I usually don't take help. Or free hand outs." She narrowed her eyes, "But today I'm a little desperate, do you have any food? I'll pay you back, I swear it."

Her dark brown eyes held something as she asked this, and Kendall could tell that her asking them for help had left a terrible taste in her mouth, you could almost literally see it on her face.

"We'll get you some food don't worry about it." Kendall soothed, carefully rubbing her forearm now that she had come close enough that he could actually touch her. James looked as if he wanted to help as well, but made no move to get close enough. Wary eyes connecting the scratch on his arm to her and then back again.

Logan came around the corner just then, apparently having already detected the need for food, with a bag from the bakery in his hand.

"I never did like that bastard. Always over charged for everything, and now, he's rude to nekos. If the bread wasn't so damn good I would've gone somewhere else." Logan rambled on, handing over the bag as he reached them. James looked comical with his eyebrows raised, not being used to hearing the smart boy swear. As she received the bag Logan once again spoke.

"I got more than one of everything so it should last you for a while." He was certain to keep Kendall between them as he handed it over however, seeing as how she had obviously begun to trust him and Logan was in no hurry to get between her and her nails.

She giggled at that, visibly relaxing from what she had been, wound up tight.

"Thanks for getting so much. But it won't last that long, the damn kits don't know a thing about portion control."

Kendall, James, and Logan looked at her in confusion, and she realized that she probably shouldn't have said that if she intended to keep the others a secret.

"I shouldn't have said that. Damn, look at that, I really am a sucker for a cute face."

The boys slightly reddened at that, which pulled another giggle out of her.

"Los-y? Cammy? Come on out kiddos…"

When she said it two slightly smaller nekos stepped out from behind the dumpster a few feet away.

The first one to catch Kendall's eye was the smaller and darker of the two. Atop his head there were two small black ears that could almost blend in with his hair. He had a small helmet grasped tightly in his right arm. His small tail whipped around rapidly as he focused in on the bag in the larger nekos hands.

"Wha- Wha- ," he gulped down the lump that seemed to be in his throat. "What's in the bag Lexi?"

The other neko crept up next to the girl's other arm and looked at the bag. She looked like the small male in that her ears hid in her hair well. Kendall could barely see their tails, if they wanted to pass for normal teenagers he was sure they could. The taller girl put the bag under her arm and pulled the other two forward.

"Gentlemen, this is Carlos and this is Camille. " She said pointing to the smaller ones.

All three boys waved hello and grinned. Kendall still seemed transfixed on the small neko male though.

"So, um, if you don't mind me asking," James started, strangely sounding unsure as he stuttered out his question. "Is Lexi your full name or is it short for something?"

The taller neko giggled. Kendall finally pulling his attention off the small neko male to see James' flushed face. The small neko breathed in a sigh as Kendall's gaze averted from him, having felt the tiniest bit awkward by being watched. And James, Oh boy, Kendall knew that look; it's the look Logan was also trying to mask while staring at the small female neko… Trying to mask, but ultimately failing…

"It's Alexis if you must know." She smirked as she said it, making James' cheeks turn a light pink.

"And where are you all from?" Logan asked, finally tearing his eyes away from the smaller neko girl.

"Around New York! We lived in Dallas too! And San Diego, and Minnesota, and OW! Cam-mmmmmy…." The small neko male let out in an outburst. He had been in hyper drive, the boys just barely catching what he was saying until the smaller neko whacked him on the back of the head, effectively silencing him, but not before he whined at her.

"Lexi said not to tell strangers ANYTHING! Losy, you know that." She hissed looking at the boy. The two looked like they were going to start bickering, until Alexis grabbed them both by the ear.

"Now, kits, don't make me smack you two. Cammy, under the circumstances I'm sure we can talk to these nice gentlemen. But Losy, you do need to be more careful babe."

She looked down at the kits, both having been pacified so she turned back around to the boys.

"Before you ask, no these two aren't my kits, I've been raising them since I was a kit myself. And really, they're not actually kits, they're almost adults, I just don't think I'll ever see them that way."

The boys nodded their heads, a bit confused, but deciding that they'd find out more later.

"Well, thank you boys for the food but I think we'll be going…." She started, only to be cut off by Kendall.

"Where are you headed? Do you have a home? A place to sleep?" He got closer to her then, making her eyes widen, almost looking a bit panicky. It was little Carlos that answered his question though.

"We don't have a home, we've been living in this alley for a few days, and we just hitch hiked here from Nevada. Although, they didn't know we were hitch hiking."

The boys looked troubled by his words.

"Are you in the process of getting a home? Is there family for you out here?" Logan asked. Nekos had been accepted by some people, but not many, and some did have jobs, but often they weren't the best. The boys weren't dumb, they knew if these guys didn't have family, there was nowhere for them to go, besides a pet store that is.

"We don't have family, we only have Lexi." Camille said quietly, looking at the ground.

The boys again looked super concerned, and Alexis could almost read their thoughts across their faces.

"It's very nice that you boys got us something to eat, but we ought to go, thanks for everything." She grit out, hoping they wouldn't ask what she thought they'd ask.

"Would you like to stay with us?" James offered, "We have plenty of room."

Her eyes narrowed viciously, and she scowled. It frightened all three of the boys.

"We don't have money or anything to pay you back with," She stepped forward and pushed both the smaller ones behind her, "and we won't be paying anyone back with other measures either."

The boys looked horrified at what she was proposing, they'd have never!

"We don't want anything!" Logan said vehemently, "We just want to make sure you are all alright. Believe me, there aren't many naturally good people in the world but my friends and I are not the bad ones. I've always loved nekos and have hated how they've been so unfairly treated. My Uncle married one and his wife and their children are still treated terribly, but it's wrong. We'd never ask for anything like that, we just want to help."

He took a big breath and looked Alexis straight in the face. Her tail was flicking out behind her in a way that showed just how much she was contemplating what he had just said.

"Lexi?" Carlos said quietly. "We haven't had a real place to sleep in a long time; could we maybe give these guys a chance? I hate sleeping on the ground… it hurts…" He practically whimpered the last part, making everyone feel bad for him, and the three boys feel bad for all of them.

Alexis looked between the boys and Carlos and Camille, head going back and forth, visibly weighing the options.

"Okay," she whispered, "we'll go with the boys, and see what happens. If anything bad happens we're leaving right away," she looked at all them to make sure they understood.

"Got it?" she asked.

They all shook their heads, the boys a little bit anxiously, but still letting her know that her rule would surely be upheld.

As the boys lead them carefully up to their room in the palmwoods only one thing ran through Kendall's mind… He needed to have himself tested, his body's psychic moods have gone to a new level.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Here's chapter 2!**_

_**Everything I said in chapter 1 also applies to this one as well! **_

_**Also!:  
Disclaimer: I in no way own or have rights to anything that is recognisable in this story, all I own are the original characters and the plot line. I make no claims to anything else. **_

_**Hope the chapter is good! Review Please!**_

_**Love,  
DixieStar**_

It had been almost a week since the nekos had begun to live with the boys, and things were starting to settle down a bit.

Carlos and Camille quickly bonded themselves to the boys, almost becoming immediate best friends with them, but Lexi was still cautious. Sometimes the boys would make jokes that would put her on edge, and they wouldn't mean to… It just seemed to happen. She was grateful though. That was not to be questioned. She'd been caring for Carlos and Camille like her own children for many years, even though she was only 19. She'd been the stand in parent that neither of the two had ever had, and even though they were both 16 and able to at least fend for themselves, she had always taken the responsibility onto herself.

One night of the first week, after Camille and Carlos had gone to bed, (Kendall had given them his room and found a single bed to rent so they both had a bed to sleep on) Alexis sat the boys down and decided to tell them a little more about herself.

The boys were all next to each other on the sofa, which had become Lexi's bed. The boys all tried to protest, James going as far as to offer his room but she had refused. She didn't have many clothes, so she told them the idea of having a room of her own was ludicrous, so without her knowledge the boys were fixing that, but they can finish that later.

Lexi had seated herself on the edge of the coffee table. Shoulders hunched in and breath shallow, she was not comfortable and it was beyond obvious. The boys weren't saying anything but they were all a little afraid she was going to take the younger ones and leave.

"I feel like I owe you all some more knowledge about me, seeing as how you've so graciously opened your apartment to me and my family." The boys knew they weren't actually related by blood, but during their week Lexi had referred to the younger ones as her family multiple times.

"I'm not going to go into detail about much of their personal lives, because that's for them to tell you when they're ready. But I can let you know my background, some of their background, and my personal story, which was thankfully worse than they ever had it."

The boys were listening with rapped attention, hoping what she told them wouldn't be too terrible.

"I was born in Northern Kentucky. The people there aren't very neko friendly, and I was born to a woman who had cheated on her husband with their pet neko." She spit the word pet out viciously, and the boys didn't blame her, nekos entire life situations sometimes just didn't seem fair.

"So I was not well liked by the little bit of family I had. When my mother's husband found out about me, he threw my father out, and after I was born threw me out with him. My mother only got to hold me in the hospital for 5 minutes, and truth be told, she hated me."

The boys seemed surprised by that and a bit heartbroken for Alexis.

"My father heard her yelling at me. Told me that I was a nasty little creature, and if I'd never come along she'd have gotten everything she ever wanted. But that didn't mean my father hated me. He took me from her, and although he was thrown out, he still did the best he could to take care of me.

Dad had always wanted to be a doctor, but because practically no one would ever consider a neko for a job like that, he never was able to find one. Never mind that he actually had been through medical school thanks to an elderly woman he had lived with before he met my mother. No one would hire him. So he moved us to Minnesota after he actually got an offer. Turns out the people were screwing with him because they didn't actually believe a neko could have gotten a degree.

By the time we had moved, we didn't have enough money to move back, so we ended up staying there, by that time, I was three. I met Carlos and Camille that summer; they had just been born and were the cutest things I'd ever seen. Like me, they're both only half neko. Their fathers were brothers, and thought it'd be fun to mess around with some nekos they found on the streets. They left the women for dead, after 'having a little fun' and my dad was the one to patch them up, and later deliver the little ones when they were born, which is how I met them so early.

The neko women were so grateful to my dad that they came to see him as often as they could. Carlos' mom was living with a police officer and his wife, and Camille's mother moved in with a friend she had made as a child. I think it was Camille's mom that was the first to go, right after I turned 7. She'd been sick, and not with anything my dad could help her with. Dad and Carlos' mom took her to the hospital where she didn't get any help really, but was told she was terminally ill. Her friend tried to make them treat her, but they said she was too ill to treat, so she died a couple months later. Her mom's friend wanted nothing to do with Camille, and started treating the poor thing like an animal, so dad and I took her in.

Later that year my dad came down with an illness. I'm not sure what it was, but we didn't even get to take him to the hospital because by the time it was bad enough for us to see it he was almost dead. He died with me and Cammy holding his hands."

All three boys had eyes as wide as dinner plates, but silently sat there and let her continue with her story.

"Carlos' family actually paid to have him buried, or at least, the family Carlos lived with. After my father died, Carlos' mom ran away, I've never really been sure why but her and my father were very close, so that's the only reason I can come up with. That left little Losy with the police officer and his wife who, thankfully, loved him like their own son."

The boys were thankful that in this terrible story there was a little bit of happiness. Alexis seemed to be having difficulty finishing, so James moved to sit beside her on the coffee table, when he sat down he wrapped an arm tightly around her smaller frame. Given she wasn't as petite as the other girls at the palm woods, which the boys couldn't figure out, seeing as how she skipped tons of meals to make sure Carlos and Camille were fed. She was still small to James though which was okay with him. James was quickly developing an attachment to Alexis, feeling the need to protect her like he did his other friends.

"Lexi," He whispered, "you've told us a whole bunch, you don't have to say anything else."

She shook her head, angry tears escaping her eyes. In the week she'd been staying with them, all three boys had come to find out that she did not like being weak, no doubt a side effect of whatever other horrible things had happened in her life.

"It's just, after that, everything that could have gone wrong did. Cammy and I were still living in the small apartment that dad had rented. We had no money or anything, the only thing we really had was the food that Carlos' woman would cook and send our way. I know she wanted to help more, but by then she had a baby on the way, and so I had to find a way to get Cammy food. I was only 8, and just barely, and I was taking care of a 5 year old. We got by for a while on what she made us, and when Halloween passed, we went as cats, as convenient as it was, and got a lot of candy if nothing else. I used my clothes to keep Camille clothed when hers were dirty, opting to wear a big shirt of my dad's and some shorts while I ransacked the local Laundromat to get them cleaned.

When Mrs. Garcia, who was caring for Carlos, couldn't make it over to give us stuff anymore, I needed to find a way to get us food. I don't blame her at all. She was 7 months pregnant, we lived in a not so nice neighborhood, and it's not like she could send a 5 year old neko out by himself to give us food…

I started stealing food. It was getting close to Christmas and my only priority was to make sure that Camille and I didn't freeze or starve. One night, I was outside a convenience store when I saw it happen.

The police officer Carlos was staying with was in an alley, hand on his hip and eyes frantically darting between two men obviously bigger than he. I was wondering where his back up was but I didn't have time to. They closed in on him, and I didn't want him to get hurt. From my hiding place I found a ladder attached to one of the buildings in the alley. I climbed up and put myself over the smaller man, and jumped down onto his head. The other man was startled but Mr. Garcia had his gun pulled so there wasn't much he could do. The man was trying to fight me off his head while Mr. Garcia put the other one in handcuffs.

While Mr. Garcia was turned, the man got a firm grip on me and ran, taking me with him. I remember screaming until he yanked my hair hard enough that I shut my mouth to avoid any more pain. I fought under his arm to find Mr. Garcia but I couldn't see him. When we finally stopped he started to repeatedly smack me and strangle me, I almost blacked out before he started to grin wickedly. It froze me in fear and before I knew it…,"

She stopped, gaining her breath again and putting her head down.

"He raped me. Right there in an alley. I was so confused and scared and it hurt so bad that I stopped struggling and just let it be. I don't know how long it happened for, but I remember him smirking over me when he was done. He redressed and kicked me in the side to see if I was breathing. I looked up at him and his smirk made me want to vomit. Almost as much as what he did next.

He slid down to look directly in my face and laid a dollar bill by my hand. He laughed and said, 'not the best I've ever had, but it was something.' And then he left me there. I was in so much pain that I just blacked out and by the time I woke up, Mr. Garcia had found me.

He took me to Camille and then to his house. His wife knew what happened I'm sure but she didn't say anything, just looked at me pitifully."

Her tears had stopped by then and the boys were still stunned into silence. As if she was reading their minds she looked up.

"Before you ask there are no laws protecting nekos or anything of that sort. You are only protected if your person legally protects you by signing the papers. I had no one so no action could be taken; at least that's what Mr. Garcia told me.

He didn't know what to do with us then. Three small nekos and a massively pregnant wife. I decided to ease his suffering and leave, through as subtle means as I could I asked him to take good care of Camille, and he promised, so I started packing.

I was planning to leave the day the baby was born, so I could slip away undetected, but my plans didn't work out that way. When Mrs. Garcia went in, they found there was more than one baby and they weren't expecting that. Mrs. Garcia had a terrible time delivering the babies and Mr. Garcia asked me to watch the other two. When he came out of the delivery room, I knew that pretty much the worst had happened.

He told me she hadn't been able to deliver, that her body couldn't handle it and she was given an emergency C-section. By the time they got the babies out she was too unstable, and they were currently fighting for her life.

She died later that night, leaving him with two newborn children and three neko children. I planned to leave after he took us home, but when we arrived at his house, it was much different than I thought. He told us he was moving to another state to live by his parents. His wife's parents would visit but he needed the extra help from his parents in raising the babies.

He couldn't take us with him, and he cried for us, but he couldn't raise us all and his parents refused us. He told Carlos he had a place for him, that he could send him to live with his wife's parents, but they'd only take him.

Carlos cried for what seemed like an hour before he said he wanted to stay with me, I tried to talk him out of it, even tried to beg Mr. Garcia if his wife's parents would take Camille as well, but after an extensive phone call they refused, only agreeing to take Carlos.

Camille wouldn't leave me, Carlos wouldn't leave me, and Mr. Garcia had to leave us. He took us to a shelter the next night. Packing for him and the babies, who he'd named Antonio Carlos and Alexis Camille because of our situation, and crying for us, he dropped us off.

For a while, the shelter worked, we stayed for 2 years, I was going on 11 when we finally couldn't live there anymore. An older neko man had continually made advances at Carlos, the workers tried many a time to get him to leave us alone, but he continued, and when Carlos couldn't sleep at night, I decided it was time to leave. So packing our bags, we left, catching a ride on the back of a car to a random place.

It happened that we were taken to the same neighborhood I had been in when that man had grabbed me two years before. The shelter had been a couple towns away and we were brought right back. I wanted to leave, but we had nowhere else to go and we couldn't find anything to hitch a ride on. I was terrified, and I had no money to help us, until I met Allison…. She was a neko prostitute who worked the street we were dropped off at. She worked for the man who attacked me, and upon finding us, he came at me again.

This time though, when he saw Carlos and Cammy, he made me a deal. If I learned from Allison how to work the street, he'd leave them alone, and, we-well…. I did it. I did everything I could to protect them.

Allison hated teaching me. Her last owner had sold her to the man, who I been told was named Hawk, after her owner thought her boyfriend was 'making eyes' so to speak at Allison.

She complained that I was too young, too fragile, and even begged me to run away… But when I told her about Carlos and Camille, who I hid in an alley while I talked to her and instructed not to move, she understood why I was doing what I was doing.

It hurt; I'll never forget the pain. Hawk let me keep a little less than half of what I earned on the street. Which I found out was more than he gave Allison, but it was mostly because he developed a horrible like of me, which I found out when he took me again.

It became a cycle, I'd make tons of money, doing awful things, and then hawk would do awful things to me, and it repeated for so long, I almost lost my will to live.

One night, after I fed the kits, I had to go to Hawk. He'd been telling his friends how good I was, how much I'd made him, and finally, they wanted to see me for themselves.

He had a friend that was living in New York, and when I showed up, offered Hawk a lot of money for me. To which he agreed, as long as he took 'my brats' with us too…"

She seemed to twitch when she said it, and the boys could understand why. She took a deep breath and continued.

"He let me pick Carlos and Camille up and loaded us in his van. The little ones he tried putting in a cage, but after I'd fought with him, he let them be.

I said goodbye to Allison, and she hugged me while she cried, praying to God that I'd be alright and that someone would save me.

And after that it was the same, this new man, Wally, who called himself 'Wayne-Wayne'. He used me until he sold me to a man in Dallas, and then I was sold to a man in San Diego, and then to one in Nevada. But I think we spent the most time in New York. Carlos loved the city there, and with the extra money I made he had more things. Wally at least put us in an apartment, which was really shitty, but it wasn't an alley at least.

Things were at their worst in Nevada. The man I'd been passed off to there didn't want to leave Carlos and Camille alone. He wanted them working too."

The boys' breath visibly caught in their throats, expecting the worst. Lexi had stopped talking and had her head in her hands.

"The kits still haven't told me what happened, and I've been asking for months. They were away from me for at least a week, and they were kept in cages. I know one thing though," She breathed deeply through his nose.

The anticipation from her silence was killing the boys, but they dared not ask her to move on.

She took one more deep breath.

"They tried to take Carlos' tail. Th-they tried to cut it off."

There was an audible gasp from the boys, and she shakily continued.

"I was also being kept in a cage, something the boss thought fit me well. I was let out though, whereas the kits weren't. I guess they'd been keeping us in close rooms because that was the first time I'd heard Carlos cry out.

I rushed into the next room to find a middle aged man with a knife to his tail. The bastard apparently had a kink that Carlos wouldn't go along with, and I hadn't even known the kits were being used."

She shook her head and breathed deeply.

"I attacked the man and he ended up nicking my tail, and my ear, but he didn't get Carlos' tail, and that's all I could have hoped for. But after that, I had to get us out of there, which is how we got to you fine gentlemen, after escaping and hitch hiking a ride from mid Nevada to here."

The boys looked at her again, head now hung between her shoulders, whereas when she began her awful tale, she had put her head straight up, trying very hard to look a little bit dignified. The story though, took all of that out of her. James, who had moved back over to the couch, sat beside her once again. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest, which she thankfully didn't oppose. He had feared she'd scratch him, but she did no such thing, just sagging into the warmth of his chest.

It was Logan who spoke first then, after about 10 minutes of them just letting her sit there, and taking her story in.

"I'm so sorry such bad things happened to you Lexi, but I promise, as long as you're here with us, and the kits as well, we will protect you. I promise you that."

Kendall nodded his agreement, and James squeezed her tighter to himself, reiterating the promise with a whispered "I promise I'll protect you" in her ear.

That seemed to crack her, and she began to slowly cry. But the boys were there for her, and for the first time in her 19 years of life, she felt safe and protected.

**_Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment/PM with any questions about the story, I've got about half of the third chapter written... but reviews may inspire me to work faster ;) _**

**_Love you all!  
DixieStar_**


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